SAN ANTONIO — Paced by Connor Kelley’s scoreless relief appearance and Andrew Stucky’s three-hit showing at the plate, UTSA opened its American Conference series against Charlotte with an 11-5 victory on Friday at Roadrunner Field.
The Roadrunners ran their record to 26-12 overall and 9-4 in the league after reaching double figures in runs scored for the 18th time this season.
Kelley tossed 4.1 shutout innings, striking out six batters and allowing only two hits and a pair of walks to run his record to 3-1 on the season. The right-hander came on in relief of starter Gunnar Brown, who fanned three and surrendered two earned runs on seven hits in 4.2 frames, just one out shy of qualifying for the win.
Meanwhile, Stucky led a 12-hit output by the UTSA bats by going 3 for 4 with two RBIs, while Jordan Ballin, Drew Detlefsen, Diego Diaz and Lane Haworth had two hits apiece.
UTSA wasted little time getting its offense going, plating a pair of runs in the bottom of the first. Stucky drove in Detlefsen from second with a base hit through the left side of the infield. With runners at second and third and one out, Haworth came home on an RBI-groundout to shortstop by Christian Hallmark.
The 49ers (18-19, 3-10) answered with a five-run second to take their only lead of the day. Adrian Jimenez drove in Dylan Koontz from third on a well-placed bunt single to the third baseman, while Aaron Orozco’s single through the left side of the infield scored Alec DeMartino. Later in the inning, UTSA appeared to have picked off Robert Nedry at second base, however the call was overturned due to obstruction, sending the runner to third. A passed ball scored Nedry and a two-out, two-run home run by Spencer Nolan gave the visitors a 5-2 advantage.
That lead did not last long, as the Roadrunners scored four times in the bottom of the second. RBI-doubles by Ballin and Detlefsen made it 5-4, while Haworth’s RBI-groundout to second base sent home Aidan Eshelman with the tying run. Stucky then lifted a single to left field to plate Detlefsen and give UTSA a lead it would not relinquish.
UTSA tacked on a run on a base hit by Ballin through the right side of the infield in the third, while Jacob Silva’s sacrifice fly to left pushed the lead to 8-5 after four frames.
The Roadrunners added three insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth, two on a Haworth blast over the fence in right center and another on a double steal that saw Stucky score from third.
That would be more than enough cushion for Kelley, who pitched around a one-out single with a fielder’s choice ground ball followed by a swinging strikeout to end the contest.
Eddie Copper (3-3) gave up seven runs on nine hits in 2.1 innings in the loss.
Game two of the series is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday.
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